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The DePalma Crime Family
The New Jersey Mob, also known as the DePalma crime family, was an Italian-American criminal organization operating in northern New Jersey and other areas of the state. Undeterred by operating on the west side of the Hudson River, the New Jersey family retained strong relations with other crime families in New York City. The mob is notorious for its violence and in many ways had been one of the most dysfunctional Mafia families in America, predominantly due to having a succession of very violent bosses and having multiple mob wars. It had also been categorized as one of the most active Mafia families outside of the New York area, having been known to hold territory or influence in other localities outside the northern portion of New Jersey, including South Jersey and Florida. Its illicit activities encompass extortion, racketeering, fraud, conspiracy, loan sharking, money laundering, drug trafficking, hijacking, illegal gambling and murder. History Early history Italian-American organized crime in New Jersey can trace its roots back to a bootlegging gang formed by Filippo Carsano and other Italian immigrants in 1925. Carsano's crew were involved in a power struggle in 1936 which saw a rival New Jersey mob, led by Giuseppe "Joey Peppers" Pepe, take control of Newark and Elizabeth and effectively marginalise any other competing gang. Giuseppe Pepe's stranglehold over New Jersey's criminal underworld lasted for over a decade before an explosion at one of the mob's many oil refineries took out a considerable chunk of his men as they gathered for a meeting. The explosion was treated as suspicious by the authorities but no suspects were ever caught. As Pepe's mob became rapidly weaker, Filippo Carsano saw his chance to regain power and had Joey Peppers riddled with bullets in his girlfriend's apartment. It would mark the end of a long tousle between the two rival gangs, with Carsano now regarded as the undisputed figurehead in New Jersey. It wouldn't be until 1962, when Gaetano DePalma replaced Filippo Carsano as boss, that the New Jersey mob were recognised as an autonomous crime family. Majuri's massacre DePalma's relatively peaceful stint as boss came to an end when he was incarcerated in 1973, appointing Stefano Majuri as the acting boss. The family suffered a tailspin when Majuri sanctioned the murders of three significant members within his own ranks: Emmanuel Rocca, Giovanni Zaza and Philip Cordasco, as acts of solidifying his permanent reign as boss. During the late months of 1975, Majuri was indicted under conspiracy to commit murder. The mob then saw a fleeting tenure with former consigliere Anthony Staiti appointed as boss before he was murdered in 1977. The leadership fell to members of the family’s powerful Elizabeth faction, in particular, Bruno Gioeli. It was under Gioeli’s term that the New Jersey mob fell into further disarray after he was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the murder of Phil Cordasco three years earlier. The War of '86 In the early 1980s, the New Jersey crime family stabilized under Gioeli’s trusted confidante Eugene Sapienti, however, its return to solidity proved to be short-lived. In 1986 Sapienti’s body was found in the trunk of a stolen car in Newark; his murder was the catalyst for what became known as “The War of '86”. During the bitter mob war the family split into factions loyal to Victor Putorti, who had attempted to stage a palace coup and those affiliated with Sapienti’s cousin, Tino Rosa. The internal power struggle ended when Putorti was murdered later that year. Rosa then took over a family that had been completely decimated by war, although with the help of his underboss, Patrick LeConte, they were able to replenish the ranks. The family enjoyed a peaceful four years under the two, despite Rosa being sentenced to life in prison in 1987. The peace came to an end when LeConte was murdered along with several of his loyalists in 1990 by members of the family’s Sicilian faction. The Dominick Bonina era The murder of LeConte had a devastating effect on the New Jersey mob after caporegime Giovanni Pitera turned state’s evidence. Pitera’s testimony led to the convictions of several high ranking mobsters and caused an ensuing conflict which concluded when Joseph Lombardo was murdered, allegedly on orders of South Jersey based boss, Dominick Bonina. The beginning of Bonina’s reign proved to be one of the New Jersey mob’s most productive time periods since the 1960s. Under the new boss, the family were able to expand operations in Atlantic City and even into South Florida, where the family hadn't had a significant presence in the area since the Cingolani days. However, the mid-1990s saw a change in organized crime beyond Bonina’s control. The introduction of a new generation of mobsters saw that the days of the old guard were numbered. The beginning of the end for Bonina started in 1994 when both Ernest Ippoliti and Angelo Spina were murdered. The murders created something of a distrust between crews in the family, most notably with the younger faction that was led by Joey Lutro, and like many had predicted, caused more internal warfare for the third time in the New Jersey crime family’s short but extensive history. The Young Turks After a two year battle for control of the family, Lutro’s crew, dubbed the 'Young Turks', replaced the old guard at the top of the mob once Bonina was murdered along with his close associates. In 1996, Lutro officially became boss of the family. He was considered by the media to be a young, flashy gangster that loved the spotlight and drew too much attention to himself. It was for those reasons that Lutro instated Luca Brando as a front boss in order to deceive law enforcement and other mobsters to who was actually running the family. The federal authorities began to crackdown on the family by 1999 and a number of high profile mobsters were sent to jail, including Faffy DePreta, Vinny Oliveri and Lutro himself, which ultimately put the family in a state beyond repair. OOC The DePalma crime family was created on February 2, 2014 by Jay (Gaetano DePalma) and featured many of the most well-respected roleplayers in the RPG at that time. The faction was disbanded in October 2015 but is fondly remembered as one of the best crime families to have graced Mafia RP.